Ofsted chief: ‘Don’t be afraid to challenge inspection teams’

Headteachers should be telling Ofsted inspectors to phone their supervisors if they feel that they have been asked to produce something that is not a necessary part of inspection, according to her majesty’s chief inspector.

Amanda Spielman said that schools should have the confidence to tell inspectors if they suspect procedure is not being followed correctly, and feel that unrequired documentation is being requested.

Speaking to delegates at the Association of School and College Leaders’ (ASCL) annual conference in Birmingham on Saturday (March 10), her message was clear: “If something doesn’t feel quite right, if an inspector seems to be going off asking for too much or things to be done for them specially, (school leaders should) say: ‘hang on a moment – could you possibly check with head office to make sure that is required, because it seems to run counter to what I’ve heard’.”